Angela Merkel rules out debt relief for Italy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared on Saturday to rule out debt relief for Italy, sayingin a newspaper interview that will the principle of solidarity among members of the euro zone should not turn the single currency bloc into a debt-sharing union.

“I will approach the brand new Italian government openly as well as work with the item instead of speculating about the item intentions,” Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview to bepublished on Sunday.

On Friday, Italy swore a populist coalition into power, ending months of political uncertainty that will hit global markets inside the last week. Newly designated Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will lead Western Europe’s first anti-establishment government with the aim of cutting taxes, boosting spending on welfare as well as overhauling EU rules on budgets as well as immigration.

Italy accounts for 23.4 percent of the euro zone’s public debt as well as 15.4 percent of the bloc’s GDP, according to Eurostat.